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Uvalde Begins Burying Victims Of Elementary School Attack; Disturbing Questions Still Unanswered One Week After Shooting; Senators Hold Bipartisan Talks On Gun Reform; No Relief At The Pump As Gas Prices Hit Another Record. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired May 31, 2022 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[13:00:00]

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: First time in the magazine's 155-year history, a first lady has appeared in the cover. Mrs. Biden even letting us in on a little secret. She says that when she and the president disagree they do not hash it out in front of the Secret Service. Instead they argue by text. Fexting. That's with an F. Fexting, she calls it.

Thanks for joining us today on INSIDE POLITICS. Ana Cabrera picks up our coverage right now.

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Hello. And thank you so much for being here. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York.

One week later, we are still piecing together what exactly happened on the day a gunman terrorized a Texas elementary school for more than 70 minutes. More disturbing audio is surfacing from that day. This time of what appears to be a child saying they had been shot. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you injured?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got shot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where? Where?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A kid got shot? They shot a kid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: CNN has not been able to confirm if that voice was a student, but the man who recorded the video says the audio came from the dispatch radio in a Customs and Border Protection vehicle.

We are also hearing today for the first time from an off-duty border agent who ran to help when his wife, a fourth grade teacher, texted him. That agent was getting a haircut when the shooting happened. So he borrowed a gun from his barber and he raced to the school. He ended up outside the door the gunman was behind. He had no tactical gear. Here's what he says happened next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACOB ALBARADO, OFF-DUTY BORDER PATROL AGENT WHO RUN INTO SCHOOL: I was there at the door, fixing to go in. But once again, I didn't have any of my gear. It wouldn't have been a smart move for me. All those guys had their gear and stuff, so like I said, I pulled back.

SAMANTHA GUTHRIE, NBC NEWS HOST: Obviously there's a lot of scrutiny now about the police response. What's your take on all of that?

ALBARADO: To me, I believe everyone there was doing the best that they could, given the circumstances. Yes. I believe everyone there was doing everything in their power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Outrage over the response has been building in Uvalde and across the country. We'll talk more about that in just a minute. But first, more on the community and the memorial services today.

CNN's Nick Valencia is in Uvalde. Nic, what's happening there today?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is still very raw here with emotion, Ana. It is almost like this whole town is going through a funeral, and it's today when they begin to bury some of those youngest victims of Tuesday's massacre. Amerie Jo Garza is one of the youngest victims. She turned 10 just two weeks before the shooting and her funeral is expected to be held later today. According to her father she was on the phone with 911, that's what her classmates told him, when she was shot and killed.

Her classmate is also expected to have a funeral later today, Maite Rodriguez. Now Maite Rodriguez had dreams of becoming a marine biologist. Those dreams will never come to fruition.

In addition to those two funerals, there also are visitations and rosaries for three other victims including those classmates of those two I just mentioned. Nevaeh Bravo, her visitation is currently underway right now as I'm giving this report. Her cousin told "The Washington Post" that the child put a smile on everyone's face. Her father telling CNN he's not sure how somebody could have shot and killed his daughter who was so sweet and so kind.

Jose Flores, Junior is also expected to have visitation and rosary services today. Gary Tuchman interviewed the family last week, and it was in that interview that the family was surrounded by the three siblings. Jose Flores, Junior was the oldest of four siblings. When the dad said that he went to the hospital, he asked for his son hoping that the child was still alive, but he was led to a room with a chaplain, and he said at that point he knew what had happened.

In addition to those two visitations and rosaries, the beloved teacher at Robb Elementary, one of two teachers who were shot and killed last week, Irma Garcia, 48 years old, her visitation and rosary expected to be held later today. She was a teacher at the school for 23 years and it was just a few days after her shooting death that her husband died as well. These are just a handful of the victims from last week's tragedy. And

it was just a short time ago that our affiliate, KABB-WAIO in San Antonio spoke with one of Irma Garcia's friends. Listen to what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICOLE OGBURN, 4TH GRADE TEACHER AT ROBB ELEMENTARY: I just like looked out the window, and I see this guy with a gun walking up. And I just told my class, get on the ground. Get on the ground. Get to the corner. I just kept hearing shots fired. And I just kept praying, God, please don't let him come in my room. Please don't let him come in this room. And for some reason, he didn't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[13:05:00]

VALENCIA: It's a devastating loss of 21 lives here, 21 people who will never see another day on this earth.

Now we've been standing outside of this memorial here in the middle of town, a memorial that continues to grow by the hour, and there are young children that are coming here as well as adults with tears in their eyes. Just trying to make sense of what happened. So they know that at some point the cameras will leave here, and they will be left with their grief likely for the rest of their lives -- Ana.

CABRERA: It's such a sad day. Those lives so beautiful, those pictures so precious. Thank you so much, Nick, for helping to lift up their memories and shining light on their lives.

Joining us now is CNN senior law enforcement analyst Charles Ramsay. He's the former Philadelphia police commissioner and former D.C. police chief.

And Commissioner, as we honor those lives and we search for answers and try to make sure they didn't die in vain, to look at what could be, you know, different to prevent another tragedy like this, I just want to first focus on the investigation because we are now hearing from that Border Patrol agent who ran into the school giving us a little more information about what happened that day, but why do we still not know everything about what went on outside that classroom?

It's all coming out in sort of drips and drabs, small pieces. Is that hurting the investigation and public perception?

CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, certainly the public perception, I don't think it's going to hurt the investigation. But it makes it even more important that that investigation take place, the DOJ is planning. It needs to be very thorough and complete. And the only way we're going to get an accurate and verified timeline and know exactly who did what when is through this investigation which obviously is not just about the incident at the school. They're going to also have to take a look at the gunman, how he

obtained a gun. All the events leading up to the actual shooting and then the events in the immediate aftermath. So I'm looking forward to that investigation, but it's going to be a while before it's actually available.

CABRERA: Right. The DOJ investigation could take a while. And I understand it's important for that third party to get to the bottom of what happened. But are you concerned not getting information sooner could take some of the urgency out of any momentum there may be to take action?

RAMSEY: Well, I hope not. But that remains to be seen. You know, I mean, listen, we've had a sense of urgency before around these school shootings. And if you're referring to whether or not there's going to be any legislative changes or whatever, it hasn't made any difference before. So we just need to really take a look at this investigation. Really learn from it. Change whatever needs to be changed.

But that's not going to happen until those are very thorough and complete investigation. Right now everything is coming out in a piecemeal fashion.

CABRERA: Yes.

RAMSEY: Which really is not helpful at all.

CABRERA: Put yourself in this commander's shoes, the commander who made the call not to charge that room, not to take out the suspect as fast and as swiftly as possible. What would you do right now?

RAMSEY: Well, first of all, if I was on -- and I've been on scene of some of these types of incidents, not like the Robb Elementary, but many barricades and things of that nature. I would have definitely probably not done the same thing that person did, but right now he's kind of like, you know, I guess laying low. He's not coming out publicly. And I understand that. I mean, this is a very difficult thing that he's going through right now because, you know, people are talking about criminal charges, they're talking about all kinds of things, which may or may not happen.

The real problem that I believe -- that I would be having right now is you've got to live with this. You know, I mean, you second guess yourself even if you make the right decision, you second guess yourself even if there's nothing else you could have done. I can only imagine what he's got to be going through right now psychologically. So it's just a tough period of time. And not just him, but the other officers that were on scene but didn't take the action that most people believe they should have taken.

CABRERA: We'll continue to of course scrutinize the response, but in terms of preventing attacks like this, talks continue on the Hill. We're still hearing, though, from some Republicans who say the solution is not in reforming gun laws. It's in hardening the schools. Would that have prevented this? RAMSEY: Well, I mean, listen, we can go back and forth on a whole lot

of things. But are there lessons learned there? Yes. There does need to be some things done to really tighten security. And my understanding is they have protocols there. Someone propped the door open which certainly takes away from all those security measures. But anyone watching this now that is in charge of a school ought to be looking at their security protocols, video, buzz-in doors, all those kinds of things.

But the reality is, it's very unlikely anything of significance will happen on Capitol Hill. I mean, it didn't happen after Sandy Hook. It didn't happen after Parkland. It hasn't happened after any of these other cases. And I doubt if it's going to happen now. I'm sorry to be so pessimistic, but I just have no faith in our Congress being able to do anything meaningful at all. They're very dysfunctional.

CABRERA: Commissioner Ramsey, we will continue to press and look for answers and press on our elected officials to take action.

[13:10:04]

Thank you for your time and offering your expertise.

RAMSEY: Thank you.

CABRERA: And since Uvalde, 17 mass shootings in America have taken place. Seventeen. We're talking about individual incidents with four or more people shot. Today a bipartisan group of senators will meet virtually to discuss gun safety legislation and CNN's Tom Foreman is joining us now with a look at the last time lawmakers actually did enact a major piece of gun legislation. That was back in 1994.

Tom, that was an assault weapons ban amongst other things, and that expired in 2004 after Congress failed to renew it. What impact did it have? .

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, let's talk first of all about the nature of the assault weapon, just so we're all on the same page. Some general characteristics, they're semiautomatic firing. Be clear on that. That means every time you pull the trigger, you get a bullet. So as fast as you can pull it, you can get shots out of it.

Many, many weapons are semiautomatic. Not just assault rifles. Often they have detachable and possibly large capacity magazines that clip on there so you get a lot of bullets. A pistol grip or something else for better control so it doesn't sort of walk away from you from the power of the shooting of it.

All of this comes together in a package that frankly looks more like a military thing than most people would expect. And according to John Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, shootings involving these weapons often result in more shots fired, more people wounded and more wounds per victim compared to attacks with other firearms. So this is just a very attractive weapon in general, huge seller in this country, but particularly people with these kind of assaults. So those who feel that a ban does work look to these statistics.

Before the ban, pre-1994, no assault weapon or large magazine, this red here. The assault weapon is here in the white. And then you move over here, during the ban, very, very small, and then afterward, look what happened. Huge climb here.

Important to bear in mind, though, look at the scale. Yes, these are a lot of people who die in this period of time. But in a country of 300 million, 330 million now, this is a very small number. So there could be many explanations as to why this happened. But proponents of control say just look at it. Maybe the ban is really the reason why.

So there have been other states that have enacted their own gun laws, and the bluer they are here, the more intense those laws have been to try to deal with this after this expired. And yet, with these back in the game, you have to look at the fact that this kind of shooting, these weapons, have shown up in some awfully big events that have made the news. The Las Vegas concert shooting. That was semiautomatic assault weapons involved, 2017.

2017 also Sutherland Springs Church, more on that happened. The Orlando Pulse Nightclub, 49 people killed. Sandy Hook school, 26 killed. This is one of the reasons that assault weapons continue to be targeted because opponents of this say, look, we think this is low hanging fruit. We don't see the practical use for these, and we do see the attraction of these for mass killers whereas gun enthusiasts say we see the attraction of this and most people are using them legally.

Don't go after this. Try to do something else. But this is why this keeps coming up because of where it shows up and what it does -- Ana.

CABRERA: Tom Foreman, thank you. Great perspective there.

And when it comes to guns and gun violence, the U.S. stands tragically alone not just in the number of weapons or deaths they cause but in our absolute inability to do anything substantive to curb the violence. Other countries around the world have taken action and have seen results.

Take a look at Australia, for instance. In 1996 a gunman used an AR-15 to kill 35 people and injure dozens of others at a resort in Tasmania. Just 12 days later, the prime minister, who was a conservative, announced sweeping gun reforms removing about a million private firearms in a buyback program banning semiautomatic rifles and pump action shotguns.

Adding a 28-day waiting period to buy guns and a national registry. Gun deaths have been declining in Australia in the decades since. That country has had just one mass shooting since those reforms were passed 26 years ago. For comparison, the U.S. had 230 mass shootings so far this year alone.

Let's take at the U.K. A look at the U.K., a country with some of the strictest gun control in the developed world. That wasn't always the case. In the summer of 1987, a gunman armed with two semiautomatic rifles and a handgun killed 16 people. A year later, pump action shotguns and self-loading rifles were banned. Fast forward now to 1996, 16 students and one teacher were killed in a school shooting, and this time the shooter used four handguns. By the next year, the British government banned the private ownership of all handguns and tightened licensing procedures.

[13:15:01]

The U.K. now has one of the lowest rates of gun violent deaths in the world compared to the U.S. which has nearly four violent gun deaths per 100,000 people. That's one of the highest rates in the developed world. The U.K. also has one of the lowest gun ownership rates while the U.S. owns roughly half of the world's guns.

New Zealand is another country that's taken action. Just a few years ago after a gunman murdered 51 people at two Christchurch mosques. The government immediately moved to ban military-style semiautomatic weapons, assault rifles and high-capacity magazines. Just a short time ago President Biden sat down with New Zealand's prime minister. He also promises he will be meeting with members of Congress on gun measures in this country.

Right now the president is meeting with the head of the Fed. His priority in this meeting? Fighting inflation. It's part of a monthlong plan to focus on the economy. What the administration is going to do about it. Plus turning up the heat. Supreme Court officials investigating that unprecedented leak are now asking clerks for their cell phone records. Will they hand them over?

And forget breaking the sound barrier. "Top Gun Maverick" breaks records at the box office. Are good old movie theaters making their official comeback?

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[13:20:40]

CABRERA: Welcome back. Right now President Biden is set to meet with the person in charge of the government's response to inflation. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell. It's part of a renewed focus by the White House to tackle high prices. And today the president laying out actions he is taking to give Americans relief in a new op-ed including staying hands off with the Fed, releasing oil reserves to bring gas and energy prices down, and reducing the federal deficit.

Let's break it down with our CNN team Matt Eagan and Rahel Solomon are here with me, and Kaitlan Collins is at the White House for us.

Matt, I'll start with you. Facts of the economy show it's not all good, it's not all bad. So let's take the politicians out of it. Just give us a sense of where we are right now.

MATT EGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the economy is in kind of a strange place because there really are some bright spots. I mean, unemployment is historically low at 3.6 percent. Down dramatically from the peak two years ago. We have a record number of job openings right now. It means if you want another job, you can probably find one. Wages are growing at a pace that I think the Obama White House would have killed for.

But as hot as wages are, inflation is even hotter. After little to no inflation for so many years, consumer prices are rising at the fastest pace in 40 years. Prices for food and gasoline and housing, three biggest expenses for families, they're all going up rapidly. And I think adding to this confusion is the mayhem that we've seen in the markets. Because after really big gains in 2020, 2021, U.S. markets down sharply, all three major indices down on the year.

The Nasdaq has lost almost a quarter of its value this year. That means 401(k) plans, investment portfolios, they've all gotten smaller, and that can create some real anxiety for people.

CABRERA: And so, Kaitlan, you are at the White House for us. The president meeting with the Fed chief right now. Clearly the White House is feeling some pressure. How concerned are they about the economy dragging on President Biden's approval and his agenda?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're very concerned because it is dragging on his approval ratings. You can see that. And that's because the economy and inflation is the number one concern of voters right now. And so they are taking these steps to try to showcase what they are doing to address it.

You see that they are kicking off starting today this monthlong effort to talk about what President Biden is doing when it comes to inflation, to really mainly show voters that he is paying attention and does understand that this is something that's really affecting them.

It started with that op-ed that you referenced that the president published yesterday. But he's also got this meeting with the Fed chair today, that the president is meeting with for the first time since he renominated him. He's also expected to make some remarks on Friday around the May jobs report as well. And so you're going to see a lot of effort not just by the president but also his top economic aides who are really serving more as spokespeople this week, talking about what they're doing on the economy.

The bright spots that Matt was just referencing, but also they've got the tough spots which is what's happening with inflation. And there's only so much the president can do when it comes to that, and the president himself has acknowledged the limits on that. And I think the concern for them and the struggle for them is that you've seen these efforts before by putting a big emphasis on what he's doing.

It hasn't really changed voters' opinion much of how the president is doing. They don't approve of his handling of the economy overwhelmingly right now. So I think that's going to be a challenge for them.

CABRERA: In fact, public opinion in the latest polling shows it's going the wrong direction in terms of people supporting and having confidence in the president's ability to turn the ship around.

Rahel, is there anything, any relief in the near term that we can see based on what the president has done, what he's outlined and what does the timeline really look like?

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, I think in the near- term, unfortunately, it doesn't appear that way, and even when you think about the Fed raising lates, we know that there is a lag before we start to see that reflected in the data. Economists tell me about six to nine months. We know the Fed just recently started raising rates and they will continue to do so.

But we're still going to see a lag even in the markets and the economy in terms of how long that expects. That said, there are perhaps a few signs that inflation may be moderating. Right? We got two key inflation reports over the last few weeks that appeared to show that inflation wasn't necessarily dropping precipitously but it appeared to be moderating. And so Friday is going to be very important. June 10th is when we get the next Consumer Price Index report.

If it shows further easing, that could be a sign that what we have seen these last few weeks is a sign of the trend to come that inflation may have peaked. If it doesn't show that next Friday, that could mean that what we've seen was a one-off. And that won't be good.

CABRERA: We have seen the president take action on gas prices. They're still going the wrong direction. Matt, why is that?

[13:20:00]

EGAN: Yes, they are. The national average hitting $4.62 a gallon today. It's a fresh record. 52 percent more expensive than a year ago. In fact gas prices are $0.39 higher than they were the day before President Biden announced that record-setting release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

I asked the Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm about this. She defended the administration strategy. She said the president is, quote, "obsessed" with what she described as outrageous gas prices. I think it all comes back to supply and demand. Listen, demand is very strong. People are traveling again. An estimated 35 million Americans hit the road this holiday weekend. That's up 5 percent from last year.

But supply is just not keeping up. OPEC not pumping as much as it did before COVID. U.S. oil companies under pressure from Wall Street. They're not providing as much supply. And then you have the war in Ukraine that has scrambled global supply chains.

CABRERA: Right.

EGAN: And there was another big development on that today with European Union agreeing to phase out 90 percent of Russian oil imports by the end of this year. That has actually driven again today. Brent crude another 1 percent. And that could signal even higher gas prices.

CABRERA: Not good. Not good at all if you're an average person who needs to drive to get around to meet your responsibilities.

But, Kaitlan, the other thing that I think stands out to me in the op ed from the president is that he's saying he supports the Fed and the action they're taking. At the same time, he is, you know, kind of them at arm's length saying they're acting independently. He's also laid these other ideas to make, you know, things more affordable for families, whether it's prescription drugs or something else. But he's saying, you know, it's up to Congress to take action. To make sure those things can happen. Does the White House feel like the president actually has other action he can take?

COLLINS: I think when it comes to immediate action, they feel pretty limited. Because everything that you have heard officials talk about as part of this effort to show that he is paying attention to inflation, you've had all these officials out there talking about what they're doing, nothing is really immediate term. Everything is very long-term solutions to what's going on. And so it's going to take some time. And so I think that's the concern.

And you see in that op-ed, when the president lays out his three steps that he's doing to try to tame inflation, the first one is leaving it really up to the Federal Reserve. And saying that it's up to them, and you've heard the Federal Reserve chair say the inflation is their number one concern. They want to make sure that they are moderating it so they don't tip the economy potentially into a recession so they don't basically try to cool things down too much from being overheated.

But it's a concern that there's not really much they can do in the immediate term. And that strategic oil release that they did which they talked as being historic. They talked about all the efforts they were taking. As Matt noted, it didn't really bring down gas prices much. They're higher now. It was only briefly that they went down. And so it's still a huge concern for them. Because they want to show voters they're talking about it, but the more they talk about it, of course voters are just being reminded.

Every time they go to the grocery store, everything they go and fill up their cars about how higher the prices are.

CABRERA: Kaitlan Collins, Rahel Solomon, Matt Egan, thank you all.

Russia is making gains in eastern Ukraine. But do the Kremlin's war machine take a big financial hit? Matt just mentioned that the E.U. is cracking down on the oil it's importing from Russia. We'll talk more about that next.

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